exactEarth deploys final six satellite payloads

exactEarth a provider of Satellite AIS data services, has announced that the final six payloads for its second-generation constellation, exactView RT, are now in operation. This completes the roll-out of the first global real-time Satellite-AIS service with a total of 58 operational satellite payloads and seven orbital spares.

The payloads were designed and built by Harris Corporation and are hosted onboard the Iridium NEXT constellation of satellites. The Iridium NEXT satellites were deployed over a series of eight successful launches completed in under two years and are the result of Iridium’s $3 billion investment to replace its original satellite system.

exactView RT’s advanced maritime payloads cover the entire maritime VHF radio band. The payloads deliver AIS and other vessel-based VHF data services from any vessel, anywhere on the globe, relaying that data securely to customers in real-time. exactView RT tracks a population of more than 500,000 vessels worldwide and generates Average Global Revisit rates and Average Latency rates of less than one minute.

Peter Mabson, CEO, exactEarth, commented: “On behalf of exactEarth, I want to congratulate the teams at Iridium and Harris for their remarkable execution and overall achievement in such a short period of time. Iridium NEXT is without question among the world’s most technologically sophisticated constellations and we are thrilled that exactView RT will be part of this advanced, reliable and flexible platform for the next 15 years or more.”

Mr. Mabson continued: “With its key performance capabilities of real-time data delivery, superior vessel detection, rapid update rate, longevity and continuous improvement, we believe that exactView RT provides us with a measurable and sustainable competitive advantage. We think this type of high-end service will be ideal for both commercial and government customers concerned with issues such as homeland security, search and rescue, intelligent weather routing, commodity tracking, and down the road, Smartships and eNavigation.”